Cover not available

Article published In: Target
Vol. 17:1 (2005) ► pp.111–143

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Australian specificity in titles and covers of translated children’s books

 | University of Melbourne
Published online: 23 March 2006
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.17.1.07fra
In the process of translation for children, translators negotiate, adapt and manipulate the text in order to expand and explain the message for readers in the target culture. This study focuses specifically on the translation of titles of Australian children’s fiction to determine whether the same ‘readerly’ concerns are evident in the wording of titles featuring Australian animals. French translations of Australian titles are compared with the same titles in other languages to establish the degree of similarity in patterns of translation regarding generic prioritisation, explicitation and simplification. The influence of original titles and their covers on subsequent translated titles, the phenomenon of translated titles ‘copying’ each other, and the appeal of ‘exotic’ referents in titles are considered within a framework of the nature and behaviour of titles in translation. Consistent translation strategies across languages make a strong argument for the influence of commercial and translational imperatives over culture-specific appropriation of the text.
Résumé
En traduisant des livres pour la jeunesse, les traducteurs doivent adapter, voire manipuler le texte pour des lecteurs ayant un contexte culturel différent de celui de l’original. Cette étude traite plus particulièrement de la traduction des titres et des couvertures de livres australiens pour la jeunesse, afin de déterminer si les mêmes buts de ‘lisibilité’ sont visés dans le choix des titres animaliers. Une comparaison de livres de jeunesse australiens traduits en français et en d’autres langues permet d’établir le degré de similarité concernant des méthodes de traduction concernant le genre, l’explicitation et la simplification. Tenant compte de la nature et du fonctionnement de titres traduits, on examine l’influence du titre et de la couverture originaux sur les titres traduits, le phenomène du ‘copiage’ parmi les titres traduits, et l’attrait des référents ‘exotiques’ figurant dans les titres. Des stratégies de traduction qui se retrouvent à travers les langues démontrent l’influence d’impératifs commerciaux et traductifs plutôt que l’appropriation culturelle du texte.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Animals in titles of English and French children’s books
  • French translated titles of Australian children’s fiction
  • Discussion
  • Titles in other English-language editions
  • Translations into other languages
    • 1.Scope
    • 2.Genres
    • 3.Simplicity
  • Uniqueness of title translations
  • Summary
  • Acknowledgement
  • Notes
  • References
References (46)
References
Bamberger, Richard. 1978. “The influence of translation on the development of national children’s literature”. Klingberg, Ørvig and Amor 1978: 19–27.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Even-Zohar, Itamar. 1990. “Translation and transfer”. Poetics today 11:1. 73–78. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frank, Helen T. 2001. “L’Australie dans les livres de jeunesse: titres, traductions, tendances”. Lecteurs Jeunes 23/241. 18–22.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frank, Helen T. and William A. Sparrow. 1989. “Translation of selected titles of children’s fiction from English to French”. Translation review 30/311. 50–55. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frémy, Dominique and Michèle Frémy. 2000. QUID 2000. Paris: Robert Laffont.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Furuland, Lars. 1978. “Sweden and the international children’s book market: History and present situation”. Klingberg, Ørvig and Amor 1978: 60–76.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
James, W.P. 2001. “On the naming of novels”. New England review 22:1. 187–196.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kenny, Dorothy. 1998. “Creatures of habit?: What translators usually do with words”. Meta XLIII:4. 1–8.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Klingberg, Göte, Mary Ørvig and Stuart Amor, eds. 1978. Children’s books in translation: The situation and the problems. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Milne, A.A. 1926. Winnie the Pooh. London: Methuen.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Muir, Marcie. 1992. Australian children’s books: A bibliography 11: 1774–1972. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pym, Anthony. 1992. Translation and text transfer: An essay on the principles of intercultural communication. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shavit, Zohar. 1986. Poetics of children’s literature. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toury, Gideon. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies and beyond. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
White, Kerry. 1992. Australian children’s books: A bibliography 21: 1973–1988. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Corpus works (Australian works in French translation)
Aldridge, James. 1974. The marvellous Mongolian. London: Oxford University Press. / Le merveilleux cheval mongol. 1977. Paris: Hachette/Stock.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chauncy, Nan. 1957. Tiger in the bush. London: Oxford University Press. / Le vallon secret. 1961. Paris: Éditions de l’Amitié–G.-T. Rageot.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clark, Denis. 1951. Black lightning: The story of a leopard. London: Hutchinson. / Silky, roi de la jungle. 1958. Paris: Fernand Nathan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1954. Boomer, the life of a kangaroo. London: Hutchinson. / Joë sous les eucalyptes. 1958. Paris: Fernand Nathan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Downie, James. 1935. Warrigal: The story of a wild horse. London: Hutchinson. / Warrigal, cheval sauvage. 1951. Paris: Bourrelier.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gleitzman, Morris and Paul Jennings. 1997. Wicked! Part 2: Battering rams. Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin. / Dément! 2. La guerre des moutons. 2000. Paris: Gallimard jeunesse.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jennings, Paul and Morris Gleitzman. 1997. Wicked! Part 1: The slobberers. Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin. / Dément! 1. L’attaque des vers géants. 1999. Paris: Gallimard jeunesse.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1997. Wicked! Part 3: Croaked. Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin. / Dément! 3. La grenouille tueuse. 2000. Paris: Gallimard jeunesse.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keneally, Thomas. 1978. Ned Kelly and the city of the bees. London: Jonathan Cape. / La cité des abeilles. 1981. Paris: Castor Poche Flammarion.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lamond, Henry. 1945. Dingo: The story of an outlaw. London: William Morrow. / Histoire d’un horsla-loi. 1958. Paris: Les Presses de la cité.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1953. Big red. London: Faber. / Grand-roux, seigneur de la brousse. 1954.Paris: Les Presses de la cité.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lindsay, Norman. 1918. The magic pudding: Being the adventures of Bunyip Bluegum and his friends Bill Barnacle and Sam Sawnoff. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. / Les aventures de Magic Pudding. 1993. Paris: Anatolia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Measday, Stephen. 1996. The giant spiders. Port Melbourne, Vic.: Lothian. / Les araignées géantes. 1998. Paris: Hachette.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nilsson, Eleanor. 1987. The 89th kitten. Norwood, S.A.: Omnibus. / Le 89e chaton. 1990. Toulouse: Milan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1995. Graffiti dog. Norwood, S.A.: Omnibus. / Le chien graffiti. 1998. Paris: Hachette.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Patchett, Mary. 1953. Ajax the warrior. London: Lutterworth Press. / Ajax le guerrier. 1958. Paris: Robert Laffont.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1954. Tam the untamed. London: Lutterworth Press. / Tam l’indompté. 1958. Paris: Robert Laffont.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1954. Wild brother. London: Collins. / Frère sauvage. 1955. Paris: Robert Laffont.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1960. The proud eagles. London: World Publishing. / L’enfant et les aigles. 1966. Paris: Calmann-Lévy.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1962. In a wilderness. London: Hodder & Stoughton. / Mirri chien sauvage. 1965. Paris: Calmann-Lévy.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paulsen, Steven. 1996. The stray cat. Port Melbourne, Vic.: Lothian. / Le chat errant. 1998. Paris: Hachette.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pedley, Ethel. 1899. Dot and the kangaroo. London: Thomas Burleigh. / Nine et le kangourou. 1956. Paris: Éditions de l’Amitié-G.T. Rageot.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Phipson, Joan. 1977. Fly into danger. New York: Atheneum. / Un vol mouvementé. 1982. Paris: Castor Poche Flammarion.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rodda, Emily. 1986. Pigs might fly. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. / Cochon vole! 1988. Toulouse: Milan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Small, Mary. 1989. Broome dog. Glebe, N.S.W.: Walter McVitty Books. / La longue marche de Cooky. 1993. Paris: Castor Poche Flammarion.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thiele, Colin. 1963. Storm boy. Adelaide: Rigby. / On l’appelait Tempête. 1979. Paris: Castor Poche Flammarion.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1974. Magpie island. Adelaide: Rigby. / Pie l’oiseau solitaire. 1983. Paris: Castor Poche Flammarion.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1979. River Murray Mary. Adelaide: Rigby. / Mary, la rivière et le serpent. 1985. Paris: Castor Poche Flammarion.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1985. Seashores and shadows. Glebe, N.S.W.: Walter McVitty Books. / 1988. Shadow shark. New York: Harper & Row. / Le requin fantôme. 1993. Paris: Castor Poche Flammarion.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wall, Dorothy. 1933. Blinky Bill, the quaint little Australian. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. / Blinky Bill le koala. 1994. Paris: Anatolia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wheatley, Nadia. 1982. Five times dizzy. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. / Une chèvre pour Yaya. 1990. Paris: Castor Poche Flammarion.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Ye, Lan & Lei Zeng
2024. Grammatical demetaphorization in the title translation of Chinese political cartoons: a multimodal discourse analysis. The Translator 30:4 ► pp. 471 ff. DOI logo
선영화
2017. Exploring the ‘Translation’ of Book Covers: A Comparative Analysis of Appeal Use for Expressive and Informative Texts. The Journal of Translation Studies 18:3 ► pp. 119 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue